


a modest promposal

by hardkourparcore



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: M/M, Nonbinary Linhardt von Hevring, Teenagers being awkward but like in the cute way
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-07
Updated: 2020-01-07
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:53:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22155079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hardkourparcore/pseuds/hardkourparcore
Summary: Dimitri has a small crush on the new transfer student, and he's trying to be brave about it.
Relationships: Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd/Linhardt von Hevring
Comments: 4
Kudos: 63
Collections: Fire Emblem Rare Pair Christmas Exchange 2019





	a modest promposal

**Author's Note:**

  * For [credencesgrxves](https://archiveofourown.org/users/credencesgrxves/gifts).



> I'm so sorry this took so long! I scrapped my original idea to go with one much cuter imo... I've never really thought of this ship before so I hope you enjoy it!!!

Linhardt was exactly where Dimitri had hoped to find them, dozing on a table in the mess hall. They had a meal in front of them, probably already going cold, depending on when they'd got it. He'd hoped they'd be awake – he felt guilty enough for even _thinking_ of waking them that to see it to fruition felt worse.

“Linhardt,” he began softly. They didn't stir. He repeated it, slightly louder, slightly firmer, “Linhardt,” and as gently as he could pressed the tips of his fingers into their shoulder.

What was it that Caspar had said? If they didn't wake, they might be pretending to sleep...

“I wanted to speak with you, so if you're really sleeping, I can just wait here,” he announced, and took the seat across from them at the table.

That got them to stir, slowly opening their eyes and propping their head heavily on one up-turned palm. “Dimitri,” they said, their voice a little too clear for some one who'd just woken up. “To what do I owe this...?”

Their voice trailed off and their gaze trailed to the side. Dimitri hadn't been able to get to know them very well since they'd joined the Blue Lions, but he'd heard one of the reasons Linhardt changed houses was that they didn't care for their house leader pushing them into tasks, or chastising them for their napping habits. Even though Dimitri had maintained a distance, trying his best not to make a similar mistake as Edelgard had, he couldn't help but worry he'd be doing it anyway, especially right now.

“We just... haven't been able to speak much since you joined the Blue Lions, and I was hoping to get to know you better.”

Linhardt hummed. They didn't have to know that Dimitri was half-lying. He did his best to be honest in all things, but admitting some things were harder than others, like how he'd like to see Linhardt at the coming ball and lead them in dance, or how he'd like to speak with them more, just so he could hang off every word.

It seemed like an hour before Linhardt finally said, “...Alright. What is it you wanted to know?”

Dimitri could feel his face heating up as all his questions came to him at once.  _Do you like dancing? What's your favorite flavor of tea? Will you teach me how to fish? Do you know I find you beautiful?_

...There was no way he could say all of that.

“Well, uhm... What is Hevring like?”

Dimitri couldn't read on Linhardt's face if that was a good question to lead with or not, but they shifted. Hopefully, Dimitri concluded their posture was more open, which meant that they didn't exactly loathe his company.

“It stretches from the sea to the Oghma mountains,” Linhardt said. “My family's main estate is much closer to the sea.”

...And that was all they said. Dimitri had hoped for a bit more, at least some childhood memory. Perhaps he'd been foolish to listen to the rumors that Linhardt could go on at length about the things that interested them, or perhaps that meant their family territory wasn't one of those things.

“I see,” Dimitri replied. “Faerghus is... cold. I expected the empire to be much warmer.”

Linhardt shrugged.

Goddess, did he feel stupid! He could drive his fist through the table in frustration, but instead, he calmed himself and tried to keep himself from making such a fool of himself. “Since it was close to the sea, you must have been able to do a lot of fishing.”

“At some point,” Linhardt said.

 _At some point_ _period._ Was Dimitri not asking the right questions, or did Linhardt really hate talking to him so much? Perhaps it was foolish, but maybe there was _something_ Dimitri could get them to talk about...

“You... Know I have a crest, right?”

Linhardt's eyebrows furrowed cutely and they shifted once more, finally sitting up properly. “Well, of course I do, Dimitri. I'm basically aware of every one's crests in each house, and then some.”

Dimitri was ready to reply, but Linhardt kept going. ...Maybe he did it right, after all.

“It's Major Blaiddyd, correct? Major crests are becoming rarer these days – that's where the worry of thinning blood comes from, or whatever – but in practice, there's not much difference. Well, excepting in combat, but that's not exactly where my interests lie. Yours isn't especially rare, though. I believe the royal family's genealogy states you have a nephew that bears the major crest as well, and a few cousins with a minor crest...”

He smiled. Suddenly, Linhardt was opening up about how, in their opinion, Faerghus' current and ongoing conflicts with Sreng and elsewhere somehow effected the manifestations of crests, whereas Imperial crests didn't show up as often because there were not as many opportunities to manifest them. Dimitri held on to every word, even if some of Linhardt's statements required a familiarity with the subject that he just didn't have in order to understand them, and then... Linhardt stopped themself abruptly.

“...but that would imply the existence of a --”

They stared at Dimitri. Dimitri, leaning slightly forward in his seat, stared back. “Existence of a what?” he goaded.

“Aren't you bored? I started going off into Hematogenesis Theory without a thought...”

“I must admit I don't understand it as well as you do,” Dimitri replied. “But... I certainly wasn't bored. Your passion is admirable, Linhardt.”

A light pink dusted their cheeks. “Oh.” Then, they smiled slowly. “Well, that's new.”

Their smile had a contagious effect on Dimitri, but their words caused his to fade just as quickly. “Is something the matter?”

“Not the matter, no... It's just _new_. No, I already said that.” They turned their gaze straight to Dimitri. “You mean you don't mind listening to me ramble about nonsense?”

“It isn't nonsense at all, though, is it?” Dimitri countered. “I mean, this is important research. There are crest scholars all over Fódlan, and it's an... important science.”

“Well, actually, that theory barely has any practical application,” Linhardt said. “At least none as far as I can see. You see, if it happens to be true that crests are -”

They stopped themself again, and stared again at Dimitri, eyes wide with some kind of far-away curiosity that he couldn't quite understand completely.

“Did you do that on purpose?” they asked.

Dimitri bit his lip, not because he was feeling as awkward as earlier, but because he was smiling and he felt he shouldn't have been. “Not that time... I must confess the first time, I did want to hear you talk.”

“Why?”

He shouldn't have been as surprised as he was with how blunt and sudden Linhardt's question came, but it caught him off guard anyway.

He had to answer it, didn't he?

His face was heating up again. “As I said... I just want to get to know you better. I don't mind if you keep talking. It's clear that it's something you're very knowledgeable about, and you seem to be having a fun time speaking about it.”

“I... see.”

They brought their hand to their chin, thoughtfully tilting their head to one side. It was a cute look. 

“There's... Not many people that will listen to me go on like that. You really don't mind?”

“Of course not, Linhardt, we're friends, aren't we?”

“Hmm... Friends.” They stretched out their arms in front of them, canting their head to the other side. “I have friends who won't even do that. People who listen to me like that... are very dear to me. I didn't think you would be like that.”

They seemed to so casually drop statements that made Dimitri's face heat up even more. He must have looked like a tomato at this point... “Oh. Well. I suppose I don't... Erm. That is...”

“You're beet red,” Linhardt commented. They held a small smile.

“...I thought as much. Truthfully, Linhardt, I wanted to ask you if you were going to the ball. And if so, if you would go with me.”

“To... dance?” That took the smile off their face, but they were blushing prettily. “I don't really like events like that. If I went at all I'd probably be at the snack table with Caspar. And you want to go... as a date?”

Dimitri averted his gaze. “Yes, that was... the idea. If you don't mind.”

“Romantically?”

_Did it really need clarification?_

Dimitri huffed out a sigh. “Yes. Romantically.” He couldn't bring himself to return his gaze to them. It wasn't as though it seemed to matter. Dimitri couldn't read their facial expression very well.

He didn't feel Linhardt's hand resting on top of his either, through his thick glove, but he was nevertheless greeted with the sight once he worked up the courage to turn his gaze in their direction. “Oh, uh, you...”

Linhardt let out some sort of bemused noise, gently turning Dimitri's hand face up so that they could better hold it. “You're cute,” they said. “I look forward to dancing with you.”


End file.
